A cattle thief, who was absconding after the January 19 shootout between his gang and the police in outer Delhi, in which one of the gang members was shot dead, has been arrested from Badarpur in south east district, police said on Saturday.

Asif ,25, a resident of village Ajrada
in Uttar Pradesh's Meerut district who carried a reward of Rs. 50,000 on his head, was arrested on secret information from near Bijender Murti in Molarband in Badarpur, said Ajay Chaudhry, addittional CP (south-east).

During the vehicle checking drive, around 8.30pm, the accused came from Meethapur side to Badarpur on a motorcycle. When the police signalled him to stop, he tried to flee away leaving behind his vehicle.

However, the police arrested him and recovered a country made pistol, which he had pulled out during the chase, along with two live cartridges and the stolen motorcycle from him, teh official said.

During interrogation, he said that he was an active member of the infamous cattle thieves’ gang which was active in Delhi and NCR from the last few years.

On Jaunary 19, one of his associates, Yakub, died in a shootout with the police when they were trying to flee in a mini truck after stealing cattle in Pitampura and Rohini area. Four others were arrested.

The climax to the shootout came after a 25-minute chase over an 8km stretch between KN Katju Marg and Lok Vihar in Pitampura.

Yakub, the alleged cattle thief who was in his twenties, died on the spot, while his other accomplices — Sanwar (25), Khalid (22), Anwar (20) and Ankur (22) — were injured and arrested.

Asif and two of his associates, Taslim and Hasrat, managed to escape but were later arrested.